May 03, 2010

it's time for a backyard update! we've been busy little springtime yard fairies making all sorts of changes and improvements.

first, brian built us this new raised garden bed with some recycled lumber we were gifted from friends who were doing some yard projects of their own. that weekend my apple tree was all pink with buds.

the next weekend i went up to the cities to pick up our two new rain barrels that we got through a program run by recycle minnesota. i can not even begin to tell you how excited i am to now have two rain barrels!!

then the following week brian and some friends filled up our new bed with dirt we were gifted by a neighbor of our friends (hooray for all these donated materials!! when all was said and done, all we had to purchase for this project was the extra large nails to build the bed and a couple 6-packs of beer we gave out as thank yous!) i am so so excited to get some veggies growing in my new garden bed!!

in the week and a half it took for us to complete this project my apple tree bloomed!

March 14, 2010

look what i found in my backyard - my garden!! we've had enough snowthaw to bring the garden beds back into view which, in turn, has brought gardening back to the forefront of my thoughts.

although we're still over two months away from planting time i'm started to get all kinds of excited about planning the garden. there's going to be a big expansion this year - i'm building another raised bed on the west side of the garage (more on that later, i'm sure).

i'm also psyching myself up to try starting some plants from seed again - i've had disastrous results in the past but feel like this year will be my year!!

what about y'all? have you started dreaming up this year's gardens?

lindsey (and anyone else living in the south) is it soon time for you to actually start planting?

September 08, 2009

The citrus trees have survived the Houston heatwave surprisingly well.

The satsumas are getting big

Lemons are looking luscious

I'm thrilled with how big the grapefruits are since this is the tree's first fruit bearing season.

Then there is the poor kumquat...

The poor thing lost nearly all its leaves. But the fruit is oddly still hanging on; it even started to flower again. Has anyone heard of such a thing? I'm giving it more water, and when the compost is ready it will get a health dose. Any suggestions on what else to do?

In other news, cicadas are leaving their skeletons all over the side of the house. They look so cool and prehistoric.